Vigils in Silicon Valley for San Bernardino

Silicon Valley community stands with San Bernardino

Candlelight vigils will be held on Monday, Dec. 7

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Multiple candlelight vigils are planned for Monday from San Bernardino to Northern California as communities come together in solidarity with victims and survivors of last week’s terrorist act that exploded amidst a combined training and holiday party for county environmental health workers.

While many details about Dec. 2 remain unclear, it is now known that 10 of the 14 victims were members of Service Employees International Union Local 721 who worked for San Bernardino County.

SEIU Local 521 members have a deeply personal connection to the tragedy given that the gathering was of county workers and the site was a regional center serving people with disabilities – areas of work that often are represented by Service Employees International Union across the state.

Working with community partners, SEIU 521 will be participating in candlelight vigils in San Jose, Campbell, Salinas, and Bakersfield in solidarity with one in San Bernardino being coordinated by two SEIU locals.

Hundreds are expected at the vigil at the San Andreas Regional Center in Campbell, where workers were shocked to see fatal mayhem reach a social services agency that serves people with disabilities.

In San Jose, representatives from the County of Santa Clara, Muslim Community Association, NAACP, will join faith leaders from Silicon Valley’s diverse community for a brief candlelight vigil.

San Jose: 5:00 p.m.
County Government Center, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose

A message from SEIU Local 521 members Catherine McCoy and Maria Salinas, service coordinators for San Andreas and Kern regional centers respectively, read in part:

“We here at SEIU Local 521 stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who were the target of – and witness to – the unspeakable carnage that has claimed 14 lives.”

SEIU has set up a fund to support the SEIU Local 721 families impacted by the San Bernardino mass shooting.
SEIU members can support families with online contributions at action.seiu.org/together

Or, direct any donations by check to:
SEIU
ATT: Local 721 Member and Family Support Fund
1800 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036

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Service Employees International Union, Local 521 represents 41,000 public- and nonprofit, private-sector workers in the central Bay Area region and in the Central Valley. Under a Community First vision, we are committed to making sure the needs of our community, and the vital services we provide our community, come first. We believe our communities thrive when residents, leaders and workers recognize that we are all in this together when it comes to our safety, health, and well-being.

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